91ÊÓƵ

The sea level on the West Coast is predicted to rise rapidly after a three-decade break.

Other areas of the world have seen sea levels rise much more quickly in the past 30 years, but a change in global wind patterns could shift that sea-level acceleration to the West Coast, according to from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California at San Diego.

Parts of the West Coast could see seas to rise by 14 inches by 2050, creating erosion, flooding and problems for coastal development. Potential salt-water flooding could ruin property and back up sewers.

Planners can take steps now to prepare. The San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association suggests the following, :

• Enormous water gates could protect bays from storm surges. They already work in places like the Netherlands and Britain.
• Buildings can be raised on stilts like those that are now common in tropical Australia and are required in New Orleans, or tethered to the earth and saddled to floats.
• Shorelines may need to be vacated, with buildings toppled and wetlands restored. Some shoreline will evolve and build up in height without help if they are given back to nature.